"Makoni: The carpet under which ZANU PF chuff will be swept!" by Mr Silence Chihuri.

Simba Makoni is being touted in and outside Zimbabwe as a possible challenger to Mugabe in the forthcoming presidential elections in which he will be the flag bearer of a hitherto-be formed political party.

It is claimed that so exciting is this Project Makoni that the BBC being officially banned from Zimbabwe, had to border-jump into the country at great risk for their Chief Correspondent John Simpson simply to cover the developing news. The problem with the west at times is that they think they know and understand our politics much better than we do. Already they think that Makoni has all the answers to our problems and that he will definitely win the elections. The truth could never be further!

The formation of another political party is always a welcome development because if such party is effective enough to make its mark policy and strategy wise, then the whole democratic process becomes enriched. The problem with people like Makoni however, is that while he is a man of colourful personal credentials i.e. his academic qualifications et al, his achievements in office are very far from inspiring. Makoni has a dismal record in office and he will not perform any miracles as president. His is a record blemished with underachievement in all the ministries he has headed as well as that unforgivable conspiracy to the ruinous ZANU PF project. His head is sunken right deep into the stench of ZANU PF misrule and he has never really raised it above that shameful parapet.

The problem with us Zimbabweans is not our forgiving nature but rather our forgetfulness. How can anyone forget that these Makonis, Dabengwas and Mujurus are simply as ZANU PF as the rest of them? We have all heard enough about Makoni’s so called Midas touch and how he will present the real challenge to Robert Mugabe. But what people need to know now and to put into perspective is the history of Makoni and his cheerleaders in ZANU PF and their conspiracy to this entirely ruinous project. That Makoni was a total failure at SADC where he spent 10 years is out the question because he was only saved by his affiliation to ZANU PF and a Mugabe who was then very influential in the region. Of course that is not the problem with his supposed re-entry into politics at the highest level.

The real problem with Makoni and his grouped of disgraced spent forces being touted as our potential saviours is that the whole thing smirks of national desperation of a an unforgivable nature and that is an insult to the souls of the people who have died at the hands of ZANU PF brutality. I will promptly point out that there is nothing wrong with the MDC courting ordinary Zimbabweans who currently belong to ZANU PF. It is universally agreed fact that political parties do not necessarily have to manufacture ‘new’ supporters where these may potentially be tainted, but that they have to appeal to the same people who support their opposite number to come to their fold. On the same token ZANU PF supporters are no different and they should be lured to the MDC stable where they must be shown the light.

There is every problem however, with the idea of luring senior members of ZANU PF who have been sitting in Politburo meetings where for all this time decisions to decimate MDC leaders have been orchestrated. How can the same people then cross the line and become to the torch bearers of the struggle against the same ZANU PF tyranny. God will really need to bless the people of our strife torn country if that is just how desperate we are for saviours. Other people have even gotten carried away to the extent of suggesting that Morgan Tsvangirai should step aside for Makoni to lead the so-called broad alliance of democratic forces! Tsvangirai has been at the frontline in the this fight against the same ZANU PF beast and he has been left for dead at the hands of ZANU PF thugs dressed in police uniform. How on earth can anyone in their sane senses think that someone from ZANU PF can then come to take over the people’s revolution? If the MDC wants to be rejected by the people who have stood by them for all these years, then the party must enter into any form of adulterous relationship with Makoni and his ilk. Enough concessions have been given to ZANU PF so far and all that is now left is to square up with them.

The Makoni project may well be oiled and greased with the money that has been fleeced out of the Zimbabwean people the majority of whom are going for days on end without seeing a meal, not to mention a decent one. This is money that has been stolen from the people, and it is now being used to sustain the power of the selfish few who have been milking our nation dry for all these years. How many scandals have erupted under the noses of ZANU PF and have gone unchallenged leaving certain people filthy rich? And why should the people of Zimbabwe allow these dogs of war to use the proceeds of their evil exploits to prop up themselves? This is not a fight against Mugabe’s tyranny that Makoni is fronting. He is simply seeking to facilitate the survival of a mafia that cannot imagine itself living an ordinary life.

The truth of the matter is that all of those names being put forward to front the Makoni project are political prostitutes and spent forces. This is all dead wood that has been used and dumped by ZANU PF. They are all political dandies that have been chewed out of their essential sugars and are no longer of any use even to a dying party. None of these people ever resigned in courage and dignity as a way of protesting against the madness that is ZANU PF. These are people who were either sacked by Mugabe or were simply dropped from the government merry-go-round because they had outlived their usefulness to ZANU PF. What use to our nation could be these ZANU PF stumps that have nothing left in them at all that they could offer to our nation so desperate for real leaders to take us out of this ZANU PF prescribed mess?

Makoni, Dabengwa, Mujuru, and their lot are simply selfish people who have just discovered that the ZANU PF project is finished and they now want to cut and run in the name of presenting the ‘real’ challenge to Mugabe. As for Makoni he is actually rubbing his hands because he thinks that this time around he is in for a kill that has eluded him for years. How can ZANU PF masterminds present a ‘real challenge’ to themselves? Where were they all this time when the country was burning? As for Dabengwa he is one of the unprincipled individuals who have let the people of Matabeleland down for years while being used by Mugabe for his own selfish ends. Dabengwa was used by Mugabe just like all the other cherry-picked yes people like John Nkomo who present the face of Bulawayo in ZANU PF. It was actually people like him (Dabengwa), who presented Mugabe with the priceless mask behind which he has been hiding away from the people of Matabeleland for all these years.

As for Mujuru who is said to be the financier and anchor of the new political project well, he is none other than the husband of Joyce Mujuru who during her years in the higher echelons of ZANU PF has spitted nothing but venom in the direction of the MDC. What is it really that separates the two who every night share the same bed and recap on their daily routines while brainstorming about the morrow in each other’s arms? The truth of the matter is that Makoni will simply serve as a political carpet under which all the ZANU PF rot will be swept should he ever be allowed any authoritative space in which to operate. That should never be allowed because there is just too much graft associated with this ZANU PF establishment that allowing any of their lot a lifeline into the next political dispensation in Zimbabwe would be an affront to justice. Why give ZANU PF a kiss of life by entertaining Makoni and his bandwagon?

What Zimbabwe needs really is the coming together of the democratic forces into a rainbow coalition or alliance to oust ZANU PF and not to supp with it. This should never be mistaken with being led down the footpath by ZANU PF accomplices. There are no democratic forces among the current crop of ZANU PF leadership and Makoni is right there in their midst. Makoni has already stated anyway that he and his colleagues are very keen to carry on with the ZANU PF ideology without re-writing it. We all know what ZANU PF ideology is all about. It is all about killing political opponents, torturing opposition leaders, starving opposition supporters, as well burning the homes of innocent villages that are already feeling the strain of unjustified poverty and suffering.

This is not the time for making regrettable mistakes. The MDC must present itself to the people of Zimbabwe in its original format without tainting the party by mixing it with disgraced and expired ZANU PF politicians. Tsvangirai must lead a united MDC to victory and should the people of reject the MDC then let them reject the party in its pure format. The only unity should be of the MDC and all the other smaller parties that have never been part of the ZANU PF rot. If at all he has the spine for it, Makoni must be used to destabilise ZANU PF and the MDC would need to make maximum capital out of a disjointed ZANU PF by seriously presenting a real and credible alternative. ZANU PF is a no no and any sort of pact with the devil will consume the MDC project into oblivion.

At the present moment Tsvangirai is and has been for the last eight years, the real challenge to Mugabe and ZANU PF and this is why he their enemy number one. Tsvangirai has stood up to ZANU PF in such a way that the ZANU PF Politburo has had to hold several emergency meetings to plot against him and his party. Makoni, Mujuru and Dabengwa have always sat in those politburo meetings and there was not a single occasion on which any one of them ever stormed out of the meeting in protest against MDC persecution. The only incident recorded in a politburo meeting so far was when Mujuru hit the roof over when it became clear that his wife had been dumped by Mugabe and was no longer the natural successor to the octogenarian. There is nothing that can be called progressive forces among the ZANU PF leadership but what is definitely out there to be reached to are a large pool of supporters that still worship ZANU PF especially in the rural areas. Whether they do so under duress or willingly those are the people that Tsvangirai will need to enter a pact with not these desperados.

As long as the MDC appeals to those masses in the rural areas Makoni and his ilk can dream on and there is no need to panic at all. This is the time for the MDC to expose them for what they really are – desperados. If allowed to get anywhere near the presidency Makoni is not going to serve the interests of the suffering people of Zimbabwe in any way or form. The only purpose he will serve would be to protect the ZANU PF thieves from imminent prosecution for human rights abuses as well as plundering of national resources. Can anyone imagine people like Gono just getting away with what he has done to our country? It is obvious that there will be a lot of money for the Makoni project from ZANU PF cash barons and they should be already lining up to sponsor Makoni’s presidential bid because he is their only sure way out of prosecution.

The Makoni project must be rejected and condemned with the contempt it deserves because it is not about the advancement of the national agenda. It is still simply a huge carpet under which all the ZANU PF chuff will be swept away from justice because it’s all about the survival of a few individuals who have strangled our nation for years. The MDC with all its shortcomings is the only genuine way out for Zimbabweans. It is the only political project that will offer Zimbabweans that kind of clean slate that we desperate. We must never employ and half measures in the resolution of our dire problems. This is the time to continue the struggle against tyranny with the dignity and conscience that has always prevailed in the face of a murderous ZANU PF hegemony.

The MDC must rally the people throughout Zimbabwe with a clear message of rejecting the repackaging of ZANU PF. Through those three hundred rallies that have been lined up, the MDC leadership will indeed reach to the people of Zimbabwe. The message would be conveyed and the podiums must be lit up with messages of warning to the people about the hawks and sharks that are preying on our desperation for salvation. The MDC must never waver or bend backwards to accommodate unscrupulous politicians. Zimbabweans have suffered enough!

Silence Chihuri writes from Scotland and can be reached at silencechihuri@googlemail.com